Click It Handwarmers

A couple Christmases ago, my mom gave me these Click It Pads as a gift. What are they, you ask? Well basically, they are like HotHands on steroids. :) I used to have a serious addiction to HotHands, the hand warmers fllled with activated charcoal that can be purchased in pretty much any checkout aisle. The trouble with those is that they are only good one time!

When my mom saw these, she knew they would be perfect for me since I am always cold. The best part is that they can be used again and again! Here is how they work:

They start out as a small gel pack, small enough to hold in your hand:

To activate the heat, you just "click" that tiny tin button you see inside. This causes some type of reaction in the gel that changes it to a crystallized form and produces heat. Don't ask me how they do it, but they do! Here is a little video I made to show you how the transformation takes place: (please don't mind the wigglyness, I had a bit of trouble doing it with one hand!)

Here is how it looks all crystiallized:

Isn't that the oddest thing? But it actually works! To reuse them, you have to boil them (I know, this gets weirder and weirder!) and they return to their gel state. All you do is bring your water to a boil, lay a cloth in it (to keep the plastic from melting, I suppose) and then put your click it pads on top of the cloth and boil! It takes about 10 minutes for them to completely return to gel. Don't leave any crystal at all, or they won't work!

And then, they are ready to be used again!

I love using these on cold days, or when I go ice skating or some other cold activity! They are a fantastic solution to cold hands! And they last for an hour or more, which is fantastic!

I have been unable to locate a site for these exact heat pads (the website on the material that came with them no longer exists) but I found these which appear to be the same thing, only a different name. Check them out!

I'd love to hear your options for staying warm during these chilly winter days! I guess we've come a long way from heating potatoes for our pockets, don't you think? =) Have you used HotHands or a reuseable pad like these? Which do you prefer?